This writer's specialty is in narrative game design, whether that means dialogue, alternative storytelling methods, and visual based storytelling. As she has both an art and storytelling background, she is well known by peers for telling stories using visual cues. She also is trained in short story writing, writing poetry, and can also write reviews. This writer is also well versed in the history of gaming.
Video games, Board games, Role-playing games, Dungeons & Dragons, and writing for games. Fantasy, Science Fiction, and speculative Fiction.
Class of 2020, graduated Magna Cum Laude, GPA: 3.72
Independent & Team Game Projects (Ongoing)
o Game Jam Games are games prototyped and developed in an exceptionally short period of time, often less than 48 hours in total.
Cosmo (Global Game Jam, 2017)
A Pun a Day (Global Game Jam 2018)
o School Projects are varied, but often compose of group projects trying to fulfil a curricular responsibility within a limited amount of time. Whether groups are assigned or chosen, it can lead to taking on unusual responsibilities and working outside of your expertise to finish projects on time, especially when doing tasks that nobody wants to complete.
My Pet Rock (Spring 2019)
Big Little Controller (Fall 2019)
o Independent Projects are games or stories where students received little to no outside input or assistance from a team. All aspects (including art) were done by Rachel, and while they tend to be smaller in scope, she have a greater ability of control over the final product.
A Day at the Bank (2017) was a writing exercise done in response to the hiring prompt for potential employees at Crystal Dynamics, where applicants were challenged to write a story with multiple endings focused around a Bank.
The Escape Game (2018) was the culmination of a semester long writing assignment. The game focuses on the metaphysical possibilities of games as a narrative medium, along with the implications of limited omniscience and awareness of narratives.
Small Town Mystery (2019) was an experiment in interactive narratives and research into classic digital storytelling mechanics of the early internet.
Game Reviews and Blog Writer
o Alphabet Reviews on RictaGames.com
Game Writer, Producer, & Project Manager for No! Studios
o Project: Dungeon On The Move (DotM)
o No! Studios is a student lead team working out of RPI. The team has varied in size from 3 to 8 students at a time, working under the direction of a games Professor. DotM was invited to the International Conference for Interactive Digital Storytelling (ICIDS), and who planned to show at the Games Developers Conference (GDC) in Spring 2020, before the quarantine.
o Rachel's main responsibilities here were in development and application of the larger narratives of the game. As we were making this game from scratch, many small, specific details can fall through the cracks in planning, and so it was her job to iron out those details, and make immediate decisions on design choices. Whether it's concept art for character design, or deciding how the UI interacts with dialog systems, Rachel was an integral part in that process.
Voice Production Assistant for Green Tree Games, LLC
o Project: Burden of Command (BoC)
o As a part of this project, Rachel's responsibilities were varied and vast. Primarily, she worked as a liaison between the company hiring voice actors and the games team, making sure the voice company had all necessary information and preferences, while clearing up any miscommunications.
o Another responsibility of Rachel's was the creation and maintenance of shared documents, used to track voice recordings and line reads, as well as determining with a critical ear which lines needed to be redone or reworked.
o Additionally, she was asked to conduct social media research on potential clients and interested parties on both Facebook and Twitter, in anticipation of the games release in the future. This was especially relevant as the game BoC is based on the existing property owned by HBO, Band of Brothers.
Alphabet Reviews is an ongoing project on this writer's personal website, rictagames.com. It consists of a series of game reviews and overviews, advising readers on games of interest.